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Quiet Democratic race to oppose Shimkus

Posted January 11, 2008 10:00 pm

Bernard Schoenburg

It has seemed to be almost a stealth campaign, but there is a Democratic primary contest Feb. 5 for the congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. JOHN SHIMKUS, R-Collinsville.

Springfield lawyer JOE McMENAMIN says he's working hard to build support among "hard Democrats" in the 19th Congressional District, and he's been having some success. Sangamon County Democrats last week unanimously endorsed him over DANIEL DAVIS of Chatham. Madison County Democrats, another important group and one based in Shimkus' home county, earlier gave McMenamin the nod with a unanimous vote of the party executive committee. He also is backed by Democrats in counties including Fayette, Bond and Wayne, and at a Springfield fundraiser last week, U.S. Sen. DICK DURBIN, D-Ill., who was among those named on the invitation, attended.

The state AFL-CIO is among other groups backing McMenamin.

"We're working real hard with the local county organizations," said McMenamin, 55, who is in the Illinois National Guard and served in Afghanistan for 15 months in 2004-05 in the Army's judge advocate corps. "I want to get the nomination from the party, and so I've been talking to all the hard Democrats and the response has been very favorable," he said. "We've got coordinators in most of the large counties, and we're making lots of progress."

McMenamin said that while he has a private law practice, his work there is minimal lately as he's been campaigning full time.

Davis, 26, has taken a leave of absence from his $57,000-a-year job with the Illinois Department of Public Health to campaign full time, and has moved from Springfield to Chatham to be within the boundaries of the 19th. McMenamin lives near but not in the 19th - but the law requires only residency in the state, not the district, to go to the U.S. House.

Davis, who grew up in Harrisburg, which is in the district, says he's not worried about the endorsements going McMenamin's way.

"Whenever I talk to everyday folks who are out there, they're all pretty excited about my campaign," Davis said. He added that he's a "great listener" and has been enjoying going door to door.

"I'm a product of this district," Davis said. "They've poured into me my entire life, and I want to be somebody who can pour right back into this district and serve them."

While Davis didn't want to specify anything wrong with Shimkus, saying he wanted to concentrate on his own positives, McMenamin wasn't so shy. He said lots of people mention that Shimkus, in going for a seventh two-year term, is breaking a self-imposed term-limits pledge.

"He's a West Point graduate," McMenamin said. "He knows the importance of pledges."

McMenamin also thinks Shimkus "put party above principle" by, as McMenamin sees it, protecting a fellow GOP House member in the scandal involving then-U.S. Rep. MARK FOLEY, R-Fla., who left Congress after his computer-based advances to former male pages came to light. Shimkus had been chairman of the House Page Board when the scandal broke, and has said he was respecting a call for privacy from parents of a former page who got inappropriate e-mails from Foley when he handled the matter quietly - confronting Foley and telling him to stop contacting pages, but not informing other lawmakers or the bipartisan page board, and not investigating if other pages had received inappropriate electronic messages.

And McMenamin said Shimkus is viewed as "a yes-man for the president" and for "the continued open-ended rubber stamping of our commitment to Iraq."

STEVE TOMASZEWSKI, spokesman for Shimkus, said he didn't want to respond as Democrats go through their Feb. 5 primary race.

"After that point, I'm sure we'll be engaging in more discussion on the issues," he said.

McMenamin said he expects his campaign will show a balance after expenses of $100,000 for the current reporting period. Davis said he'll probably have raised something under $12,000 during the full campaign by the next report this month.

To touch on some issues, both candidates are pro-life, though McMenamin says exceptions to his anti-abortion stand would be in cases of "incest, rape and health of the mother." Davis is pro-life and considers the only gray area to be in cases where a mother's life is at stake.

On the war in Iraq, McMenamin thinks America needs to begin an "orderly exit of our combat forces."

"We cannot continue to spend a quarter of a trillion dollars on that war in Iraq year after year after year," said McMenamin. "We have to invest in America.

Those dollars that go to Iraq need to go to Madison County, Sangamon County, Massac County, Pope County."

McMenamin also said that given how much more than other countries the Unites States spends on defense, he thinks there should be a way to "reduce our exposure overseas."

"We don't see the Russians on all the continents of the world. We don't see the Chinese on all the continents of the world, Chinese military forces. Yet we see American forces on all continents of the world, and we've got to re-examine our commitments," McMenamin said.

Davis said that despite Americans in uniform across the globe being "amazing and heroic," "Maybe it's time to replace being the leading authority in world affairs with being the leading diplomat in world affairs," and it's time to convince other nations to help more in the attempt to build a safe and secure Iraq.

"I would think that there probably needs to be an indication by the United States government that if we're doing this alone, that we'll need to begin withdrawing troops, and offer incentive for other folks to get involved," Davis added.

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Sangamon County Democrats, in the meeting of their central committee last week, also voted to endorse U.S. Sen. BARACK OBAMA, D-Ill., for president.

TIM TIMONEY, chairman of the local Democratic Party, estimated that more than 100 people at a meeting of precinct committeemen were for Obama in a voice vote, while four people voted against the endorsement.

Two people who thought no endorsement would be best were Sangamon County Board member CLYDE BUNCH and TERRY FAIRCLOUGH, Timoney said. Both are candidates to be Democratic National Convention delegates committed to U.S. Sen. HILLARY CLINTON, D-N.Y.

Timoney said some in the party who hadn't made a final decision for president backed the endorsement of Obama regardless, because he chose Springfield to make his presidential announcement and has shown support to local Democrats through appearing at fundraisers.

subhead

It was somewhat surprising to hear that, when interviewed last week by the Peoria Journal Star's editorial board, state Rep. AARON SCHOCK, R-Peoria, said that when he had mentioned the possible sale of nuclear arms to Taiwan in his October announcement speech, it was less than serious.

"When I made the statement, the tone in which I made it was more in jest," he said.

The surprise was that there had been no indication from Schock of any jesting in the days after the idea - to possibly sell nukes to Taiwan if China didn't go along with sanctions to force Iran to back down from developing nuclear weapons of their own - hit the papers in early November.

"It's naive for my opponents to sit still while Iran builds nuclear weapons," his own Nov. 8 news release was headlined in response to criticism from JOHN MORRIS and JIM McCONOUGHEY, his opponents for the GOP nomination for the U.S. House from the 18th Congressional District.

And in his Nov. 13 statement pulling back from the precipice, Schock said he "overstated the remedy with regard to telling China we would sell Taiwan nuclear weapons if China continued to stall on voting for the third set of sanctions on Iran as the time for Iran producing nuclear weapons gets closer and closer. I regret saying that and including that provision in my proposal."

When Shock appeared with lawmakers endorsing him at a Statehouse news conference last week, I asked why he had never brought up the "jest" thing before.

"I admitted that I went too far in suggesting that we sell nuclear weapons," he said. "I apologized for that, and I moved on. And if you wish to continue to beat a dead horse to pulp, so be it."

Morris issued a statement last week saying that "Aaron just doesn't get it. This is Congress, not Saturday Night Live."

"I have talked to the parents of soldiers who have served and are serving overseas," Morris added, "and what they tell me is that this kind of jesting could get their children killed."

SUBHEAD

The presidential campaign of former New York Mayor RUDY GIULIANI has scored Springfield-area endorsements including those of Sangamon County Treasurer TOM CAVANAGH, Auditor PAUL PALAZZOLO, board chairman ANDY VAN METER and board vice chair ROSEMARIE LONG; former Springfield Mayor KAREN HASARA, Springfield Ward 10 Ald. TIM GRIFFIN; Sangamon County Board member BILL MOSS, Springfield Park Board member JIM FULGENZI and BRAD MILLS of the Prairie Capital Convention Center's board. Sangamon County Circuit Clerk TONY LIBRI, who also chairs the county GOP, has been on board and is also listed. Giuliani already has the county GOP's endorsement.

Bernard Schoenburg is political columnist for The State Journal-Register. He can be reached at (217) 788-1540 or bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.

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